After second opinion, council adopts lower speeds and passive traffic-calming plan for Court Street and Sylvester

The council received a second-opinion presentation from John Mannix of PBS Engineering reviewing a prior CIVTEC report on Court Street. Mannix said the posted speed was consistent with national 85th-percentile practice but recommended that, under Pasco’s Complete Streets goals, lowering speed limits and adding passive traffic-calming (narrowed travel lanes, buffered bike lanes, speed-feedback signs) would reduce traffic stress for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Mannix cautioned that active measures such as traffic circles would not work well on this corridor because of heavy bicycle use; instead he recommended a phased approach: begin with passive measures and signage, test for effectiveness over a trial period, and only add targeted speed cushions or humps if needed. He identified Court Street as a candidate for a future “road diet” in a longer-term build-out and pointed to collision data in the city’s local road-safety plan as supportive of that concept.

Following that presentation and discussion with staff about procedures and grant-related requirements for Sylvester Street, council adopted Ordinance 4759 to lower speed limits on Court Street (western segment to 25 mph and adjacent segment to 30 mph as described by staff) and to reduce Sylvester Street to 30 mph. The adopted measures direct Public Works to implement signage, repaint lanes per the recommended cross-sections and monitor trial results.

Councilmembers broadly supported starting with passive traffic-calming and monitoring; several asked for conceptual cross-sections and a short trial period to measure changes before installing more intrusive hardware.